patrulhar

Senses

1. 1.

   to patrol

   to keep watch over an area by regularly walking or traveling around it

2. 2.

   to monitor, to police

   to watch over or control someone's behavior or activities (often critically)

Examples

• "A polícia patrulha as ruas do bairro todas as noites."

  The police patrol the neighborhood streets every night.

• "Os guardas patrulham a fronteira para evitar contrabando."

  The guards patrol the border to prevent smuggling.

• "Não gosto quando as pessoas patrulham meu comportamento nas redes sociais."

  I don't like it when people police my behavior on social media.

Usage

Common in both literal contexts (security, military) and figurative uses (social monitoring). The figurative sense of "patrulhar" has become very popular in Brazilian internet culture to describe when people judge or criticize others' choices or behavior, especially online. Regular -ar verb conjugation.